Contents

Understand

This city in the very south of Turkey was an important centre of early Christianity, with some of the first non-hidden churches. Today it’s a truly multicultural place, where you can hear prayers in many different tongues. Many sects of Christianity (Greek Orthodoxy, Syriac Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism to name a few) and Islam (Sunni and Alawi), as well as Judaism, are all represented with their dedicated temples in Antakya.

Ethnically, Arabs constitute almost half of the population whereas the other half is constituted by Turks. Arabs in the city speak Levantine (Shami) dialect of Arabic, which is also prevalent in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

The city is not located on the sea-shore, but the Asi River (formerly known as the Orontes River) flows through the city center.

Get in

By air

Domestic flights are available to Hatay Airport, 25 km from the city center. However, nearest international airport is located in Adana, located a couple hundred kilometres to the north. The 'Havas' bus runs from the airport hourly to the city centre for 9 lira, and takes around 20-30 minutes. If you need to get back to the airport, the Havas leaves out the front of the 'Buyuk Antakya Hotel'(on the river, close to the Mosaic Museum, its a huge resort style hotel, you can't miss it) every half hour most days, but check the Havas website for specific departure times. This is alot cheaper than a taxi! Please note that you will have to flag the Havas bus down from the front of the hotel, as not many people utilise this service, so make your presence known as it drives past.

You can also use Dolmuş Taxis in order to get to the city center. Many dolmuş taxis wait just in front of the airport and as soon as any four customers are gathered, the taxi heads towards the city. The taxis charge approximately 10 lira per person. All in all, if you accept to share the taxi with other passengers, taking a cab is preferable to Havaş as the taxi drops you whichever part of the city you want to get out while Havaş only stops at specific points.

By train

By bus

Has Turizm [1] operates comfortable buses from all major cities in Turkey. There are also bus connections with Aleppo, Syria.

The otogar is located about 7 kilometers from the city center. Once you arrive look for minibuses to take you within walking distance of the center. Many of the hotels are located on Istiklal street.

To get from Antakya to Aleppo in Syria, the best option is to catch a bus from the central bus station (otogar) outside of town. It's too far to walk there, but there's bus connections from the town centre. The journey to Aleppo should cost you 10 Turkish Lira (2009). Keep in mind that the last bus (during Ramadan) leaves at 11AM! This might be different outside of Ramadan, though. You can also try to catch a taxi from the town centre, which can be fairly difficult, as you normally have to wait until there's enough people sharing the taxi. The journey should cost you around 25 Turkish Lira each if the taxi gets full. If you don't want to wait, you can pay for the whole taxi and depart immediately, which is going to be about 100-120 Turkish Lira.

Don't try to cross the border step by step! The Lonely Planet mentions this option, which means you catch a bus to the Turkish border control, hitchhike to the Syrian border (which is about 5 km away, you are not allowed to walk) and then take a taxi from there to Aleppo. You should be prepared for an extremely time-consuming trip. There's no other possibility to get from the Turkish border control to the Syrian one than waiting for a car to hitchhike. This can take some hours. At the Syrian border neither buses nor taxis are to be found, so you will have to hitchhike again. Most people will charge you for hitchhiking, and normally they will try to rip you off. Speaking Turkish and/or Arabic will certainly help, but if you don't, this trip is going to be really difficult. Apart from that it's more expensive than the direct bus.

Get around

See

Mosaic Museum (Mozaik Müzesi) or the Antakya Archeological Museum in the city has the second largest collection of classical/Roman mosaics in the world. The museum also features a good coin collection, artifacts from the Iron and Bronze ages found in sites nearby and a very impressive sarcophagus with great reliefs.

One of the oldest churches of Christianity, Church of St. Peter, is a must see in Antakya. Entrance to the church is 8 lira (as of Nov 2010). The church is about a 30 minute walk from the museum. To reach the church you need to go across from the museum, through the bazaar and at the end (when you exit the bazaar) make a left and go on for about over a kilometer - the church will be visible up on the hillside.

Büyük Antakya Parkı is the park that is located just in the midst of the city, by the River Asi and behind the famous mosaic museum of the city. Many locals visit the park during the day, and especially early in the morning to do sports. Note that there are many open air tea houses within the park, hence it's the address to go for a tea or coffee or hookah when the weather is nice.

Do

Buy

Thanks to the large laurel (Laurus nobilis) groves on the mountains surrounding the city, laurel soaps (defne sabunu, also known as garlı sabun locally), which are said to have some benefits on the skin and hair, are unique to this city and are made of local olive oil with some laurel extract stirred in.

Eat

The city is known for its tasty cuisine (one of the most delicious in Turkey), which has many Middle Eastern influences. One of the must eats in Antakya is a dessert called Künefe, which is a shredded pastry with cheese. There are many Künefe houses scattered in the city, but they are especially concentrated in the main square of the city, Köprübaşı. Hatay Künefe and Kral Künefe, both located in Köprübaşı, are among the most famous Künefe houses in the city.

There are many restaurants in the city center, but most of them serve döner and other fast food. In order to try local cuisine, try Anadolu Restaurant (in Saray Caddesi), Sultan Sofrası Restaurant (in Köprübaşı) or Sveyka Restaurant (in Kurtuluş Caddesi). As for döner restaurants, Restaurant Nuri and Restaurant Abdo (both in Saray Caddesi) are the most famous ones for Et Döner (beef döner) whereas Kebo, a tiny place located in Atatürk Caddesi, is the most famous place for Tavuk Döner (chicken döner).

Note that Harbiye, a touristic municipality which is 10 km away from Antakya, has many restaurants as well and people frequently go from Antakya to Harbiye for long dinners.

Drink

Sleep

Hotel Mozaik, İstiklal Caddesi 18 (Sultan Sofrası Üstü), ☎+90 326 215-50-20/21/22/23. Located in the city center, the hotel rooms are very clean. Quoted 75 lira with breakfast for a single room, 100TL for a double (Nov 2010 prices)